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For further information on Spruce Meadows, please visit your local library or bookstore and ask for: "The Spruce Meadows Story" by Ken Hull ISBN: 0968114105	Site of Spruce Meadows in 1970 - a former cattle feed lot Ron and Marg Southern discuss the blueprints Spruce Meadows in the early 80's The dream of the Southern Family from the start was to create a unique environment of 'good family, good commerce, and good sport'. This dream has been shard from its genesis by a committed group of corporates, volunteers, media, athletes, staff, fans, and officials. Construction of Spruce Meadows began in 1973 and the official opening was in 1975. There were three rings at this point: the International Ring, All Canada Ring, and the Rocky Mountain Hunter Ring. The very first tournament was held at Spruce Meadows in 1976 and offered total prize money of $174,000. Roughly a dozen people made up the audience that day. This was the first crowd to clap their hands in time to "Radetsky's March" - the now renowned "Victory Ride" of Spruce Meadows. Spruce Meadows has evolved into a venue containing over twenty buildings: ten permanent stables, two indoor arenas, tournament center, administrative offices, Congress Hall, British House, HD television production suite, maintenance, and storage buildings - all encompassed within 360 acres. Six outdoor grass rings are used during the tournaments: International Ring, Meadows on the Green Ring, All Canada Ring, North American Ring, Rocky Mountain Ring, and the All Alberta Ring. None of these rings is used for practice during non-tournament times - they are all left pristine until used for competition. Over eighty people are employed on a full-time basis and thirty are employed as part-time summer staff.  An army of over 500 volunteers, the life-blood of Spruce Meadows, help to run tournaments during the summer. Spruce Meadows stables 80-100 horses year-round. During the tournaments, up to 1,000 horses can be accommodated in both permanent and temporary stabling. Spruce Meadows' tournaments attract over 450,000 spectators annually. Record attendance was 62,250 on Sunday, September 7, 2006 during the "Masters" Tournament. In addition to the spectators who attend the Spruce Meadows tournaments, a television audience of over 820 million is reached through Spruce Meadows' programming. More than 25 televised programs originate from Spruce Meadows annually and are aired in over 100 countries around the world. What was formerly a cattle feed lot on the prairies of Alberta, has now become one of Canada's jewels - entirely due to the foresight of the Southern family. Spruce Meadows was Ranked #1 in the world in 2002/2003 and 2004/2005, and offers over 6.2 million dollars in prize money through the generosity of over 100 Canadian and International corporations which support Spruce Meadows and the sport of show jumping.